VS question

[digger36]

Hi I bought a VS commodore yesterday, drove it to Orange from Sydney. This morning I check stuff including the power wire at rear of alternator.
The transmission fluid looks like engine oil in colour and I'm wondering if the tranny has ever been serviced...takes a little while to drop into gear when I first put it into drive but it shifts ok...
Going to get it serviced asap (filters/fluid) but I'm wondering why is it so dark? Is there something else going on in the auto could be causing this or just the (apparent) lack of service. Taking this down to Mildura in a few days and don't need a transmission failure on the Hay plains..
cheers

[The1]

Dark oil means worn rubber/clutches etc, definatly get a filter and oil change done before it gets any worse, can also get the plastic forward accumulator piston changed in the pan for an alloy one they crack, get stuck in the bore and cause poor shifting or slow reverse to drive only a $10 part and see how it goes from there

[Cracka]

smell the fluid too, if it has gone dark from age / overuse it wont smell burnt, if it smells burnt i'd say your tranny is fairly well on i'ts way to heaven.

There are litterely thousands of dollers worth of upgrade parts for the 4l60e that you can buy which will prevent future issues, that being said a reco is about 2k probably more than the average VS is worth these days.

[PirateJoe]

Where do you get the accumulator piston from mate?

[The1]

this place has them, just be sure to also ask for a new seal for it when ordering, when i bought some there last time they didn't include seals.

Aftermarket OEM 4L60E Accumulator Piston (Small OD) [4L60E-S0622] - $18.95 : Furious Performance, Online Performance Parts Store

[digger36]

Just been in contact with the guy I bought it from..he informs me that it's never been serviced at least as far as he knows...
I thought everyone knew auto's need serviceing to but apparently not, my blue for not checking it tho...checked everything else but not the auto...too much of a hurry
can't go out and smell it on account its raining atm but I will asap tho...cheers

[The1]

It's even in the owners handbook, every 4yrs or 80,000km change fluid and filter.

I usually half what it says in the manuals, i do mine every 40,000km, some do it every 20,000km if you drive it hard. I just do it every 40 and use fully synthetic fluid like transmax z

[Cracka]

I drive my VS normally I.E I don't flat foot it or try to take off like a race driver and I service my auto every 20,000km and I do the diff every 40,000km

[hako]

I think you'll find that 80% of Commodores on the road have never had the transmission oil changed.

[greenacc]

Hako what a nasty dirty thing to say !! Surely there aren't that many stupid people in the world ?

To the OP, if you have the chance in orange drop the pan and do a simple trans fluid and filter change while you're there. They usually perk up very quick after a fluid change if its not too far gone. If you can't drop the pan you could pump it out the cooler hase into a bucket and refill down the filler tube, you only need a screw driver and a bucket for that method. Just make sure you put the right end of the hose in the bucket or your engine will wear all the dirty fluid. Ive always been a fan of the regular valvoline Dexron 3 fluid and regular changes. It gets all the black shit out of the trans and runs great. change it again in a month or 2 and see how she goes.

[Andrew426]

Fully synthetic HD ATF should give a 100,000km change interval. If you are using good quality fluid, 20,000km changes are excessive no matter how you drive.

[hako]

Hako what a nasty dirty thing to say !! Surely there aren't that many stupid people in the world ?

.

Believe me there are. First thing I do when buying a car (which is usually at least 8 years old) is to change all fluids, and on all auto's I've owned in the last 20 years - 3 Valiants, 2 Falcons, 2 Jaguars, 1 Magna and 1 Commodore, all were either brown or black although none smelled burnt which is the worst sign. You'll also find lots of people rarely change their oil more than once a year and I don't think I've bought a car in the last 50 years of driving that had fresh oil in the sump....some had what looked like treacle in the sump, but a fresh change does wonders.
Same goes for tyres - we used to retread a tyre carcass up to 4 times and on the final retread you'd get it regrooved when it got bald - this gave you another few thousand miles. First time I did 100mph in a Ford V8 was on retreaded and regrooved tyres.....nowdays I wouldn't even dream of buying a retread.

And that bucket trans oil change is the way to go - no bath of hot filthy oil.

[digger36]

Hako what a nasty dirty thing to say !! Surely there aren't that many stupid people in the world ?

To the OP, if you have the chance in orange drop the pan and do a simple trans fluid and filter change while you're there. They usually perk up very quick after a fluid change if its not too far gone. If you can't drop the pan you could pump it out the cooler hase into a bucket and refill down the filler tube, you only need a screw driver and a bucket for that method. Just make sure you put the right end of the hose in the bucket or your engine will wear all the dirty fluid. Ive always been a fan of the regular valvoline Dexron 3 fluid and regular changes. It gets all the black shit out of the trans and runs great. change it again in a month or 2 and see how she goes.

Need to get this done by a mechanic..no tools here...and I'm going to replace the forward accumulator piston as well...fluid smells like it maybe burnt also..not badly as in its not an immediate oh shit smell its more like is it or isn't it lol...might be just paranoia..I really didn't need this atm...moneys very tight for me right now. cheers

[Bourbonated]

I think you'll find that 80% of Commodores on the road have never had the transmission oil changed.

Hako what a nasty dirty thing to say !! Surely there aren't that many stupid people in the world .

Yeah, Hako. How dare you imply that 20% of Commodore owners possess the common sense to service their boxes.

I'd say it's more like 10%.. And they are probably all here on the forums, sadly :P!

[The1]

moneys very tight for me right now. cheers

Yep usually happens at that time. lol

[digger36]

$140 later it has a new filter new fluid and fluid additive in the gearbox...now when I put it into gear its wait 5 secs then it drops in fast and jumps forward lol..I assume something else is out of whack now but whatever...can't do anything more with it right now....once I get rolling tomorrow morning it's going to be in drive pretty much for 7 hours or so til I get home or Boundary bend...get work asap then worry about whatever is needed then...it may settle down somewhat too given it apparently was low on fluid when I took it in....mech who did it wasn't a tranny guy either...every bloody mechanic in town is booked for days and I needed it done like yesterday...so hopefully it does whats needed for the next 24 hours.
cheers

[monkeys437]

Ive heard of these boxes lasting over 400k if serviced regularly. Not to mention they drive so much better with fresh fluid. I get mine done every 30k or so but only the fluid in the pan dropped and topped up again. I think a full flush is unnecessary unless the fluid is in poor shape like the op's VS

[BowTie]

make sure you check the fluid levels hot and running.

[PirateJoe]

Thanks the1. Not a bad site for kits and fittings either.

[digger36]

Well it got me home with no dramas...but at what speed should it drop into 4th...seems to hang a bit and drops into top not far off 100kph...my last car (ford ute) was in top gear long before then....I'm thinking maybe a solenoid fault as in 3rd/4th? I got nfi really, this being the first Holden I've run in a long time.

[The1]

sounds like TCC isn't locking up. Drop it back to manual third and see if it changes if it does then you were in 4th so it's TCC not locking up

[nathanVY]

I think mine needs the accumulator piston thingo replaced tooooo

[digger36]

sounds like TCC isn't locking up. Drop it back to manual third and see if it changes if it does then you were in 4th so it's TCC not locking up

It changes back..goes on to do list.

Stuck a SAAS (?) pod on the air intake...appears to run ok with it....whats the sensor? that get's disconnected when you remove the stock airbox...I'm thinking its a temp sensor...necessary or not?

cheers

[The1]

yeh temp, just replumb it somewhere in the intake.